US733646A - Sprinkler-head for automatic fire-extinguishers. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTBD JULY 14, 1903.

G. E. HIBBARD. SPRINKLER HEAD FOR AUTQMATIG'PIRE EXTINGUISHERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTVZOI 1901.

H0 MODEL UNITED STATES Patented July 14, 1903.

GEORGE E. HIBBARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPRINKLER-HEAD FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 733,646, dated July 14, 1903.

Application filed September 20, 1901. Serial No. 75,872. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. HIBBARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sprinkler-Heads for Automatic Fire-Extinguishers, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to the device by which the valve of a sprinkler-head is held firmly to its seat under normal conditions and temperatures and which when subjected to a predetermined abnormal temperature will become crippled and fall away, allowing the pressure, whether of air or water, on the under side of the valve to dislodge it and uncover the nozzle or discharge-opening. It is well understood in this art that the construction of the valve-holding device must be such that it will hold the Valve seated firmly and with certainty when there is no occasion for its release and must be capable of sustaining the strains incident thereto throughout a long period of time, while, on the other hand, it must be such that it will with equal certainty and with great promptness cripple and release the valve and permit it to be dislodged when the occasion forit arises. Valveholding devices capable of meeting all of these requirements to a greater or less degree are not, broadly, new, and hence I declare the object of my present invention to be theprovision of an improved valve-holding device by which all of said requirements will be met with absolute certainty within the range of the conditions to which it is subjected in ac tual use.

To this end the invention consists in the features of novelty that are hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this speciiication, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sprinklerhead embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation thereof viewed from a point ninety degrees removed from the viewpoint of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a View of some of the parts separated, some of the parts being shown in elevation and others in section. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a link made up of parts united by solder fusible at a predetermined temperature. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the three parts of which the link is made up. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of one of the toggle members. a section of the valve under a slight modification. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a brace under a slight modification.

A represents the nozzle, and B the yoke or frame, which are shown as being integral, although this is not essential. O is the valve for closing the nozzle, and D the distributer located directly opposite the nozzle, so that the issuing stream of water will impinge against it, said distributerbeing preferably revoluble and provided with tangential or approximately tangential ribs or blades d, so that the impact of the water against it will cause it to revolve and distribute the water over a large area in the form of spray. All of these parts may-be of customary or of any other desired construction so long as they are capable of cooperating with the devices hereinafter described in accomplishing the results aimed at.

Various devices have been interposed between the valve and the'yoke for holding the valve seated and for releasing it when subjected to a predetermined temperature, and it is to a device for doing this that the present invention relates.

Broadly stated, the invention consists in a pair of toggles, each comprising two members E and E, in the nature of posts, placed end to end, with their points of contact upon 0pposite sides of the central line of thrust, said toggles being interposed side by side between the valve and yoke in such manner that they form a composite strut, levers for applying endwise pressure to said toggles, and means for normally holding them against buckling under the influence of said pressure, the toggles being so disposed with relation to each other that when freed from the restraint of the holding-levers last aforesaid they will buckle outward or away from each other.-

In its broadest aspect the invention is not limited to any particular means for produci'ng this endwise pressure upon the toggles or to the arrangement of the levers for holding them against buckling. For producing the endwise pressure I have shown and preferto use a screw F, which has threaded engagement with the yoke and has in its end a spher- Fig. 7 is ical concavity for receiving the rounded upper ends of the two upper members of the toggles. This screw also serves to retain the distributer D,through which it passes loosely, the portion of the screw adjacent to the distributer being without threads.

For holding the toggles against buckling I have shown and prefer to use a pair of levers G, which are independent of the toggles and are disposed upon opposite sides of them. At an intermediate point each of the levers engages one of the toggles at its joint, and means are provided for holding the levers in place and preventing them from moving farther apart under the influence of the lateral pressure which the toggles put upon them when the latter are subjected to endwise pressure. The means for thus holding the levers must include a joint which will give way when subjected to the aforesaid predetermined degree of heat-say 150 Fahrenheit-and although the invention in its broadest aspect is not limited thereto I have shown this joint as being incorporated in a link H, which is shown in end elevation in Fig. l, in longitudinal section in Fig. 2, and in perspective viewin Fig. 4. This link is made up of three plates, one of which is shown at h in Fig. 5. It is made of thin sheet metal and of substantially U shape, and at its mid-length it has a single flute or corrugation h, formed by dies.

When the three plates are assembled to form the link, the two outside plates are placed with their open ends in one and the same direction and the intermediate plate is placed with its open end adjacent to the closed ends of the outside plates, so that the composite. link thus formed has through it a longitudiening-screw F in order that it may reach and engage the upper ends of the toggles. The

- flutes or corrugations of the several plates register, and the meeting surfaces of all the plates are united by solder fusible at about the temperature named. The three plates of which the link is made are similar, excepting that the flutes or corrugations are of different sizesthat is to say, considered from the side of the link F at which the flute or corrugation of the outer plate presents a convexity the flutes of the several plates successively decrease in size, so that they will nest, the concavity of each being exactly complementary to the convexity of the next. In order to bring this about with certainty, the corrugations are all produced by a single operation of the dies, the plates having been previously superposed in their proper relations to each other, as above described.

In order to prevent the accidental disengagement of the link and levers, the latter are provided with notches g for engaging the ends of the former. These notches are of V or other shape, which by their engagement with the closed ends of the outer plates of the link will when strain is applied tend to draw said ends toward each other. As a result of this when the solder fuses the inclined surfaces of the notch will draw together said ends of the outer plates, thereby causing the opposite ends of the said outer plates to move laterally away from the inner plate, and thus the parts are torn asunder with little or no sliding or creeping of the parts upon each other. The other ends of the levers may onter perforations in a plate I, resting upon the valve 0, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, or the valve itself may be provided with perforations for receiving them, as shown in Fig. 7. In any event they are preferably provided with notches g for preventing accidental disengagement.

The contacting surfaces of the two members of each toggle are preferably flat; but adjacent to these contacting surfaces what may be called their heels are preferably rounded to provide convex surfaces, so that in the act of buckling they will rock upon each other. Preferably, also, these contacting surfaces are formed on lips e, which may be notched, as shown at e, for receiving the levers G, whereby the toggle members are held against sidewise displacement.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 I have shown the levers Gas being made of short stout bars, while in Fig. 8 I have shown a plate G, having at its ends tongues g", which may be used instead. In any event the levers preferably have more or less elasticity, and where bars that would otherwise be rigid are used they may be reduced, as shown at 9 sufficiently to give them the desired amount of elasticity. Elastic levers are preferred, because immediately upon the weakening of the solder joint their recoil will separate and scatter the parts.

Preferably the entire mechanism is covered by a spun-metal or other cap J, which is shown in section in Fig. 2 and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Its base enters within an annular flange a, formed at the margin of a disk at, that surmounts the nozzle A and forms the base of the yoke.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a sprinklerhead, the combination with a valve and yoke, of a valve-holding device having a pair of toggles interposed side byside between the valve and yoke, independent levers arranged' upon opposite sides of the toggles and engaging them, and means including a solder-jointed link engaging the levers at one end for holding them, substantially as described.

2. In a sprinkler-head, the combination with the valve and yoke, of a valve-holding device having a pair of toggles interposed, side by side, between the valve and yoke, means for applying strain to the toggles, independent levers arranged upon opposite sides of the toggles and at intermediate points ICC engaging them at their joints, and means including a solder-jointed link for holding the levers substantially as described.

3. In a sprinkler-head, the combination with the valve and yoke, of a valve-holding device having a pair of toggles interposed, side by side, between the valve and yoke, means for applying strain to the toggles, independent elastic levers engaging and holding the toggles, and meansinoluding a solder joint for holding the levers substantially as described.

4. In a sprinkler-head, the combination with the valve and yoke, of a valve-holding device having a pair of toggles interposed, side by side, between the valve and yoke, means for applying strain to the toggles, independent levers arranged upon opposite sides of the toggles and engaging them, the lower ends of said levers being in engagement with the valve, whereby they are prevented from spreading and means including a solder joint engaging the upper ends of the levers for preventing them from spreading, substantially as described.

5. A link made up of three separate plates of substantially U shape havinginterlocking flutes or corrugations, the outside plates having their open ends presented in one and the same direction and the intermediate plate having its open end adjacent to the closed ends of the outside plates, the meeting surfaces of all of said plates being united by solder, substantially as described.

6. Alink made up of three separate plates of substantially U shape, having interlocking flutes or corrugations, the outside plates having their open ends presented in one and the same direction and the intermediate plate having its open end adjacent to the closed ends of the outside plates, the flutes or corrugations of the several plates being of successively-decreasing sizes, whereby the meeting concave and convex surfaces are complementary, the meeting surfaces of all said plates being united by solder substantially as described.

7. In a sprinkler-head, a combination with the valve and yoke, of a valve-holding device having a link made up of three separate plates, the outside plates being of substantially U shape and arranged with their open ends-presented in one and the same direction, a part having a notch with sloping sides engaging the closed ends of said outside plates and means for transmitting the reactionary strains of said part to the valve substantially as described.

GEORGE E. HIBBARD.

Witnesses:

L. M HOPKINS, MARIE NIOHOLLS.

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